"When the Giants Come to Town..." is my blog intended to chronicle my thoughts on San Francisco Giants baseball. My special interest is in prospects and the farm system, but of course, will comment on all aspects of the San Francisco Giants. I will also comment on baseball in general, particularly from a fantasy baseball perspective. I hope you will find the site informative, and invite you to join in the discussion.

Mike Newman from Fangraphs said he was planning to try and scout Blackburn and Crick when they came to Rome. I'll be interested in reading what he has to say. Games like this from Galindo make you dream a little bit.

Short Season Vancouver Canadians topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 3-2:

Oh, what a difference a day makes! Yesterday, there was enough despair for to raise the stocks of the pharmaceutical companies who make anti-depressants. The Giants looked like a beaten team while the Dodgers were adding piece after piece for a run to the division title. Then the Giants made a trade for Hunter Pence. Hunter Pence wasn't even in the ballpark tonight, but you better believe he was there in spirit! This was a different team out there tonight and you gotta think the thought of Hunter Pence joining up gave them an extra spring in their step. Tim Lincecum pitched a solid game through 7. The offense scratched out 4 runs and Jeremy Affledt a 2 inning Save just like I told Bochy to let him do! Key Lines:

Ryan Theriot- 1 for 4, 2B, SB(12). BA= .271. Ryan Theriot does a lot of little things well and isn't afraid to let other players know when they don't. With Blanco on 1B with no outs in the 8'th inning, Riot let strike go to let Blanco steal 2B, except Blanco didn't go earning a major league stankeye from Riot. Theriot replaced Blanco at 1B after a fielder's choice and promptly stole 2B and gave another stankeye to Blanco who was back in the dugout. After Theriot scored on Scoots' single, Riot and Blanco had a chat in the dugout.

Marco Scutaro- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .277. Scoots GIDP with the bases loaded and no outs, but at least he drove in 1 run there. He seems to have caught the RISPitis that afflicts all Giants hitters, but overall he's been a big upgrade on Burriss or Arias and should be a big help down the stretch.

Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 5.62. Encouraging start from Timmy, especially pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the 7'th with the last out a K of the mighty David Wright.

Jeremy Affeldt- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, Save(2). ERA= 2.53. This as huge. Not only did Affeldt get the Save, but he gave the rest of the bullpen a much needed rest. I've always been a big proponent of leaving a hot hand out there for a 2'nd inning. Maybe Affeldt won't be available tomorrow, but 6 other guys will have fresher arms.

The Dangerous D'Backs pounded the Dodgers 8-2 so the Giants regain sole possession of first place in the NL West but 1 game. The Snakes remain 3.5 games back.

Matt Cain takes the mound tomorrow facing Jonathan Niese who can be a tough customer.

Sorry for not posting something on this earlier. Just got home from work.

I'll start off by saying I've been a big Hunter Pence fan for a long time, so I'm obviously happy he's going to be a Giant. He's the guy I wanted them to get last year, both because I like him as a player and his contract was controlled for 2 additional seasons. Oh well, better late than never! It sounds like Sabes was actually in on him last year, but couldn't get a deal done. I don't know why, but I'm guessing the 'Stros were demanding both Wheeler and Brown. The 'Stros ended up getting quite a rich package from the Phils that I doubt the Giants could have topped.

What do I like about Hunter Pence? Well, there are several things: 1. His size and athleticism. 2. His intensity on the field. He just looks like he's up there to do some damage every AB. 3. His incredible consistency from year to year. 4. I love how he is one of the few tall, lanky players who seems to understand the basic physics of why it's hard for a tall lanky hitter to control the strike zone.

Hunter Pence understands that the slight increase in leverage you get from gripping the bat down at the knob is useless if you can't get the barrel of the bat on pitches on the inner half of the plate. His solution? Choke up a full 2 inches or more! His arms give him plenty of leverage while choking up helps him get the bat around quicker as well as getting more of the fat part of the bat over more of the plate.

He's a slasher who can hit the ball with authority from foul line to foul line and has enough pop to get it out of any ballpark. He has not been intimidated by AT&T as he has hit very well here. The Giants desperately needed another RH bat with power in the lineup and Pence is just what the doctor ordered.

What of players the Giants gave up?

I've been as big a fan of Nate as anybody over the years, but at some point you have to admit that the guy is a 4'th OF. He's had his chances and has failed to sustain success long enough to win a permanent job. Pence is a clear upgrade

Tommy Joseph is a very interesting prospect with tremendous power potential. He has worked hard at improving his defensive game behind the plate to the point where he is a legitimate MLB catching prospect. I have a feeling he will never hit for much of a BA in the majors. Hate to give up Joseph, but I really don't think the Giants could have gotten more for him in another time or place. The Giants are deep at that position and you have to give to get.

Seth Rosin is a guy I have liked from before the 2010 draft when the Giants took him in the 4'th round. He has not performed as well as I had hoped, but he's had nice peripheral stats. I think he can turn into an innings eating MLB starter, probably a #3 or 4 is his ceiling, but he was definitely in the second tier of the Giants current crop of pitching prospects.

All in all, it was a fair trade for a player who will help the Giants this year when they have a chance to make it back to the postseason and next year too, when there is some uncertainty about several players, mainly Melky Cabrera.

I am disappointed the Giants did not get a closer at the deadline. To me, that is as big or bigger need as adding a hitter. Hopefully Sabes can figure out how to add a bullpen arm down the stretch from a waiver deal or the Pence trade could end up being for naught.

Hey, Hollick takes walks and steals bases! What a concept! Speaking of concepts, Jonathan Jones is showing rare power for a Giants prospect even if it's in the AZL. DeJesus has had encouraging results in limited action after being lights out in the DSL last year.

DSL Pirates blanked the Giants 3-0:

Luis Pino(RHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 0.69.

Pino is a smallish 17 yo RHP out of Mexico who now has 14 K's against 4 BB's in 13 IP in 3 appearances so far.

Well, there are disheartening losses and there are losses like this that just reach in and rip it right out of your chest. Sergio Romo gave up a 4-2 lead in the 8'th inning. The remainder of the game was a see-saw bullpen battle that the Giants lost on, you guessed it, Scott Hairston's second home run of the game in the 10'th inning. Who else? Key Lines:

Scutaro(.274), Theriot(.271), Cabrera(.352), Posey(.316), Belt(.239) had 2 hits each with 2 doubles by Buster and 1 by Scoots. On the other hand, Scutaro struck out looking in the bottom of the 9'th with the bases loaded to end a chance for the Giants to win it in a walk-off.

Nate Schierholtz- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .257. Nate also made a nice play on a ball hit off the RF wall to hold Jason Bay to a single. Don't know if Nate is on the trading block or not, but he's certainly increased his value the last few games.

Brad Penny- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 5.02. Penny looked sharp in his inning. Bochy played it by the book, but Penny is the least worked of the Giants relievers right now, he's the one who is most capable of going multiple innings. I'm a big believer in letting a reliever go another inning if he pitches a clean inning. I really wanted Penny to at least start the 8'th inning.

Sergio Romo- 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.30. I know Romo hasn't pitched a lot of innings but he's pitched and warmed up often. It looks to me like he's lost a lot of weight. He may be starting to feel the fatigue of the long season.

Santiago Casilla- 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.49. Looks like Casilla is out of gas. Sabes has to get a closer today, or it's very hard to see the Giants not fading fast in the dog days of August. I don't know if Broxton is the answer or not, but if he's available, I think Sabes has to take his shot.

The Dodgers lost to the D'Backs 7-2 to remain in a virtual tie with the Giants atop the NL West and here come the Dangerous D'Backs! They are now just 3.5 games off the pace.

Game wraps like this one are tough to write when you feel more like jumping in the car and going for a long drive to nowhere or getting out your guitar and playing and singing really loud for awhile. The Dodgers, behind Clayton Kershaw, completed a dominating 3 game sweep of the Giants in AT&T Park, payback for the shellacking the Giants put on them a few weeks ago. The Giants were actually not totally out of this one, but nothing seemed to go right for them while the Dodgers were able to capitalize on little mistakes by the Giants. Key Lines:

Gregor Blanco- 1 for 3, BB, SB(18). BA= .247. Blanco is the closest thing the Giants have to a true leadoff hitter and they probably need to stick to that plan unless they can trade for an upgrade.

Ryan Vogelsong- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.22. Another day at the office for Vogey. He'd tell you he should have matched Kershaw zero for zero, though. He created a problem for himself by going 3-0 to Rivera in the 4'th which led to a leadoff single. With Kemp, Ethier and Ramirez coming up, that's not the way you want to start that inning off. He would have pitched out of it with only the 1 run allowed had Scutaro not lost a pop up in the sun. Ramirez lost one later in the game that the Dodgers SS caught, but you could see Vogey seething after Scoots drop and the next batter doubled in another run. Ballgame!

Clayton Kershaw(Dodgers)- You had to figure that beating Kershaw 3 straight was an awfully tall order for the Giants and Ryan Vogelsong. One thing I don't quite get about Kershaw is his radar gun velocity has never been eye popping. Usually 93-95 max. Today the highest reading I saw was 93. Not that he's a soft tosser, but the way batters react, it looks more like they are looking at the high 90's up there. He must hide the ball well or have some kind of deception in his delivery.

The Giants and Dodgers are now tied for first place in the NL West with the D'Backs lurking 4.5 games back after a 5-1 loss to the Mets. A lot of fans on various internet message boards are reacting as if this is the end of the season. While you never want to get swept by your rival at home, this was somewhat predictable. The Dodgers came to town highly motivated and with a pretty stiff tailwind. There was the revenge factor from the last series they played in SF plus they had Matt Kemp back and the recently acquired Hanley Ramirez and his corny "I See You" sign. I know you can't measure that kind of stuff in a statistic, but it's real and makes a big difference in games. It will be tough, but the Giants need to re-group and play the next series like they just swept the Dodgers to move into a tie for the division lead. Oh, and Sabes probably needs to make 1 or 2 more moves by the deadline. As Roger Craig would say, "don't let it get your dauber down!"

Madison Bumgarner will pitch the opener of a 4 game set against the Mets tomorrow night. RA Dickey pitched today so the Giants won't be facing him, not that it's any guarantee of anything.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Matt Kemp took Barry Zito deep in the first inning and the Dodgers went on to dominate the Giants in every phase of the game. Key Lines:

Barry Zito- 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.89. Can't really criticize the pitch to Kemp in the first. It looked like a cutter down and in, off the plate. Kemp just pulled his arms in and dropped the head of the bat on it and it went. That was pretty much the ballgame right there.

Chad "Patchy Beard" Billingsley- 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 12/5. Couldn't really tell if Billz was all that of if the Giants attack was just pathetic. I'm leaning toward the latter, and yeah, Scoots is not going to make us forget about Pablo over the next two weeks or however long he's out.

The Dodgers climbed to 1 game behind the NL West leading Giants in the standings. D'Backs play tonight.

Ryan Vogelsong tries to be the Kershaw slayer for the 3'rd time this season tomorrow afternoon also trying to avoid a payback sweep by the Dodgers.

Brandon Belt- 3 for 5, SB(7). BA= .238. Belt drove in the 2 runs that tied the game in the bottom of the 8'th. He struck out with runners on first and second in the 10'th. I'll say this about the K in the 10'th. He got the bat off his shoulder and took his hacks. That's all you can ask him to do.

Stephen Fife(Dodgers)- 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.46. Don't know anything about Fife. This was his second MLB start. He has 3 K's against 6 BB's. He's not going to have long term success with those peripherals. I've learned to be very leery of opposing pitchers I've never heard of before. Takes hitters an AB or two to adjust. Fife also had a double and scored the first run in the 5'th as Matt Cain got BABIP'ed with bloopers in that inning.

The Dodgers gained a game on the NL West leading Giants and now have a 2 game deficit. The D'Backs won a slugfest over the Mets 11-5 and are now 5.5 games behind the leaders.

The Giants announced a trade for Marco Scutaro to bolster their bench. The cost was Charlie Culberson who started off the season strong in Fresno but had tailed off badly in the last couple of months and probably was not in the Giants future plans.

It sounds like Pablo Sandoval will probably be placed on the DL today and Aubrey Huff called up. I don't see Aubrey Huff helping this team and it throws the Belt situation back into uncertainty just as he seems to be coming around a bit.

Cornier is a guy who has been flying under the radar. He's a 20 yo switch-hitting catcher who spent 2 years in the DSL then barely made a blip last year in Arizona. Is this the start of a breakout? Giants have several fairly young high-ceiling guys doing well in Arizona.

The Giants lineup was missing two of their 3 best hitters and Tim Lincecum returned to being consistently inconsistent. The result was a loss to the Pesky Padres. Key Lines:

Brandon Belt- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .230. If there was a silver lining to this one, it's that Brandon Belt's AB's appeared to get better as the game went on and he finished the day off with a ringing double to RF that started a 2 run rally in the 8'th inning. I still think he needs to back off the plate a bit or else choke up on the bat. Pitches on the inside corner are right about even with his elbows when he swings. I don't think that it's an accident that his double came on a pitch just outside the middle of the plate where he could extend his arms normally and still barrel it up.

Tim Lincecum- 4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.88. The pitching line speaks for itself. It's so similar to so many of his other lines this year and that's the way it was watching it on TV too(I had to take a day off to get my A/C fixed). Just really frustrating to watch.

The Dodgers and D'Backs play later tonight.

Giants get the day off tomorrow to see if Pablo can heal quickly. Matt Cain gets the next start Friday against TBD for the Dodgers. This would have been Nate Eovaldi's spot in the rotation.

PS: Anybody else think Chase Headley would look very good in a Giants uniform? I wonder what it would take?

PS: Dodgers lost to Cards in bottom of 12'th inning. They remain 2.5 games back of the Giants. D'Backs lost to the Rockies to remain 6 games behind.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Giants got solid pitching from Madison Bumgarner and scintillating defense from several players and finally won a tight ballgame on a walk-off single by Brandon Crawford. Key Lines:

Nate Schierholtz(RF)- 1 for 3, BB SB(3). BA= .248. Nate led off the game with a double and scored the first of 2 runs that would be the last the Giants would score until the walk-off.

Pablo Sandoval(1B)- 1 for 1, 2B. BA= .299. Pablo strained a hammy stretching for a DP relay that was successfully completed. Hopefully it's a mild strain as the Giants cannot afford to lose his bat for an extended period again.

Brandon Belt(1B)- 0 for 2, BB. BA= .229. Belt replaced Sandoval at 1B. He did a good job drawing a leadoff walk in the top of the 9'th and scored the winning run. Don't know if that changes his basic equation, though, as his walks are not the problem.

Angel Pagan(CF)- 1 for 4. BA= .278. Pagan saved the game in the 8'th inning with a sensational catch in the left -CF alley off the bat of Carlos Quentin. Headley, the runner at first base was rounding 2B when the catch was made. Pagan did a shoulder roll and came up throwing hitting Brandon Crawford in shallow-medium left-CF. Crawford was in perfect relay position and showed off his arm with a perfect strike to Brandon Belt to complete the DP and leave Quentin spiking his helmet in disgust. The Giants do not win the game without that play.

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 4. BA= .239. I don't think you get WAR credit for a walk-off hit, but between that and his relay throw, he had to have gained a 10'th of a point or two. Luckily, Crawford did not appear to be injured by the dogpile that ensued.

Carlos Quentin(Padres)- 1 for 3, HBP. BA= .268. Quentin scalded the ball 3 times but the Giants turned sensational DP's on 2 of them. I don't know whether Bumgarner hit him on purpose leading off the 6'th, but this may be a good time to remind everybody of a great story about Bumgarner from the minor leagues. Seems he hit a batter for no apparent reason. When he got back the bench, the manager, who thought it looked suspicious, asked him if he did it on purpose. "Yes!" replied Bumgarner. "Why?" asked the manager. "Because he swung too hard!" LOL! Make of that what you want.

Dodgers lost to the Cards 8-2 with Kershaw pitching to fall 2.5 games behind the NL West leading Giants. The Dangerous D'Backs took the Reeling Rockies 6-2 to stay 6 games off the pace.

Gotta be excited by Shilo McCall's first pro season. Jonathan Jones is hitting .353 over his last 10 games. Big strong kid out of Canada JC. He's 20 yo so has some time to develop. Discouraging season for Brandon Allen.

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Giants got 9 hits from their 2,3 and 4 hitters and a strong start from Ryan Vogelsong and cruised to an easy 7-1 win over the Pesky Padres(they are always Pesky when they play the Giants). Key Lines:

Ryan Theriot- 3 for 4, 2B, SB(11). BA= .279. Theriot hitting .295 over his last 10 has been very steady this year. Also playing solid D at 2B. Who needs Freddy Sanchez?

Melky Cabrera- 3 for 4. BA= .360. Buster Posey is unconcious right now. Melky has been unconscious all year! He has a 10 game hit streak with 6 of the 10 multi-hit games. He's hitting .406 in July which is not as good as the .429 he put up in May. He has hit .300 or better every month so far.

Buster Posey- 3 for 4, HR(13). BA= .317. Speaking of unconscious! Short of Barry Bonds, I'm not sure I've seen a hotter hitter than Buster Posey right now. Buster has 5 games with 3 or more hits out of his last 10. Included in that 10 game span is 3 HR's and a .513 BA. He's hitting .403 for the month of July. Tonight he drove in 4 of the Giants 7 runs and put the game away in the 5'th with a rare opposite field HR to the top of the RF arcade. His 60 RBI's have him tied for 9'th in the NL and he has driven in 17 in his last 10 games. So, you want Ribeyes? You got Ribeyes!

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 4. BA= .239. Crawford had a strange game. He drove in the 4'th run of the first inning on a liner to LF that was originally called an out as Kotsay appeared to catch the ball just at the grasstops. The Umps then huddled and ended up calling it a hit and an RBI.
Replays clearly showed the ball was trapped. Later, Crawford stroked a double to the right-center gap but was called out by the first base ump on an appeal play on the grounds he missed 1B as he was rounding it. Replays on the SD TV broadcast appeared to show him touching the bag with his left heel as he rounded it on the inside. Crawford was thrown out at first in the bottom of the 8'th for the final out of the inning. He took a wide turn toward the field and appeared to say something to the ump as he passed him and headed out to SS. The Ump gave him the old heave-ho. I say, way to stand up for yourself, Brandon! Sometimes you just have to get it off your chest!

Ryan Vogelsong- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.26. This was just another day at the office for Vogey.

The Dodgers topped the Cards 5-3 to remain 1.5 games back of the NL West leading Giants while the D'backs beat Jonathan Sanchez and the Rockies 6-3 to remain 6 games behind the leaders.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Giants took a hard fought game into extra innings but ultimately fell short of a sweep in Philadelphia. Key Lines:

Nate Schierholtz- 2 for 5, 2 HR(5). BA= .253. Holy Toledo, Nate! You know, I'm not wild about giving grease to the squeaky wheel, but I have to say Nate is putting his money where his mouth is. With Blanco and Christian scuffling, I think you have to ride Nate 'til he cools off. Of course, Nate has had games like this before and he's tended to disappear for weeks afterwards, so we'll see.

Brandon Belt- 0 for 5, 3 K's. BA= .231. Another awful day at the plate for Belt. Gotta think Sabes is hard at work looking for a bat, but in the meantime, with a pennant race to worry about, also gotta think Whiteside catching with Buster at 1B is a better option and it's a no brainer as soon as The Hector comes back.

Emmanuel Burriss- 0 for 1, K. BA= .215. Belt and Burriss had consecutive K's after Brandon Crawford let off the top of the 12'th with a double. You kind of knew it was over when that went down. Not sure what Burriss is bringing to the team that just about any warm body on the waiver wire couldn't do better.

Barry Zito- 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.75. The Phillies' two best hitters are Utley and Howard, both LH hitting back-to-back in the lineup. Zito has been particularly tough on LH hitters this year. Figured he'd have a good game. When your #5 starter can give you a QS on the road in a bandbox, you gotta feel give him props.

Javier Lopez- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.48.
Jeremy Affeldt- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.39. Lopez and Affeldt neutralized Utley and Howard two times through the lineup. Even though the Giants ultimately lost the game, that is huge and will get you more wins than losses in these types of games. Lineups like what the Phillies put out there is exactly why you need two good LOOGY's on your team.

Brad Penny- 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 3.86. It was obvious from the first batter that Penny did not have command of his stuff. When he can't put his FB on the corners down in the zone, he becomes a batting practice pitcher. Maybe he hasn't gotten enough work lately. On the other hand, how do you give a guy like this work when you are fighting for wins every game in a tight pennant race?

Dodgers did what the Giants weren't able to scoring 5 runs in the top of the 12'th inning in NY for an 8-3 win and a sweep. Ramon Ramirez was the goat for the Mets. That win left the Dodgers 1.5 games behind the NL West leading Giants. The D'Backs crushed the Astros 8-2 to move up to 6 games off the pace.

The Giants now come home to a much welcome 10 game homestand starting off tomorrow night with Ryan Vogelsong facing Clayton Richard of the Padres.

The only blemish in Mateo's 6.2 innings of work was a throwing error by the catcher after a strikeout. Mateo is an older prospect, but he is putting up some interesting numbers 56 K's against just 13 BB's in 43.1 IP. Giants picked him up from the Pirates organization. I'm guessing he may have been involved in some Age-gate shenanigans as his first year with the Pirates was 2009. He put up decent numbers in 2011 with the Pirates Rookie league affiliate in the GCL, but the was apparently released.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

An anticipated pitching duel between Matt Cain and Cole Hamels turned into a slugfest with each team hitting 3 dingers including 1 each by the starting pitchers. Amazingly, the Giants came out of it with the win assuring themselves a win in the series and a winning record on the road trip. Key Lines:

Melky Cabrera- 2 for 3, HR(10), 2 BB. BA= .357. We are getting close to the 2/3 point of the season and Melky is still just killing it! Game after game! He even drew a couple of walks in this one.

Buster Posey- 4 for 5, 2B, HR(12). BA= .314. Speaking of killing it. Buster has been on a tear since the All-Star break failing to get a hit in just one(last night), with 4 games out of 8 with 3 or more hits. .472 BA over that span.

Brandon Belt- 0 for 5. BA= .237. Belt hit in the 8 hole today and left 7 runners on base. Not sure that hitting a guy with no confidence 8'th is the answer to anything.

Matt Cain- 8 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.74. Kind of an ugly line for Cain. Not like him to give up 3 dingers in a game. On the other hand, he kept his pitch count down and stayed in the game for 8 innings giving the bullpen a chance to win it.

Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(24). ERA= 3.25. Very encouraging that Casilla was able to get a Save with just a 1 run lead in a hitter's ballpark.

The Dodgers won their game over the Mets 8-5 to stay 2.5 games behind the NL West leading Giants. D'Backs play the 'Stros later tonight.

Friday, July 20, 2012

It was Giants weather in Philadelphia and the Giants took full advantage as Brandon Crawford broke up a tight pitching duel with a grand slam HR in the 6'th inning. The Giants cruised the rest of the way to a 7-2 win. Key Lines:

Gregor Blanco- 0 for 5, 3 K's. BA= .246. The LH hitters seemed to be not seeing the ball well in the first 3-4 innings, none less so than Blanco who might as well have been blind up there.

Ryan Theriot- 4 for 5, 2B. BA= .279. Theriot started the big rally with a single and nobody was more excited about Crawford's big blow in the dugout.

Nate Schierholtz- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .250. Nate drew a key walk to load the bases for Crawford. Not that I have a ton of confidence in Nate, but if Blanco continues to look vision challenged at the plate, Bochy might want to think about giving Nate another shot at starting in RF.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4, HR(3). BA= .240. I think if we were told at the beginning of the season Crawford would hit .240 on the season, we'd have all happily given him the starting SS job. I don't know the exact formula for calculating WAR, but Crawford earned a full W tonight in my book.

Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 5.72. Timmy was on fire early and the cool weather helped him take it all the way through 7. Very solid effort from Timmy.

Laz Diaz(Home Plate Ump)- That might have been the most ridiculous strike zone I've seen all season, especially for Worley. He was calling pitches that were a full 8 inches off the outside corner to LH hitters strikes. He probably had a similar zone for both pitchers, but it was most noticeable with Worley.

The Dodgers outlasted the Mets 7-6 to stay 2.5 games behind the NL West leading Giants. The D'Backs are leading the Astros 9-4 late. A win would leave the D'Backs 7 games back.

Matt Cain takes the mound tomorrow against Cole Hamels in what promises to be an epic pitching duel.

Beyond the Boxscore, linked over on the left, has calculated "clutch" scores for every team this year and posted the rankings on their site. Giants came in at #7 with a score of +1.27. For reference, a score>2 is considered fantastic while a score between 1 and 2 is "great". Bet you knew that about the Giants already, right? Anyway, check it out for yourself.

Noonan stays hot. Dominguez gets another assist. Not sure what's going on with Huff. Unless there is something obvious mechanical going on, and it seems like if there was it would have been fixed by now, he must be close to being done. It's hella tough to pitch in the PCL.

Brownies stays hot. Holt was one of several "5 tool" CF types who we followed leading up to the 2010 draft. He was recently promoted to AA after posting a .263 BA in the Carolina League, admittedly the Carolina League is a much tougher league to hit in than the Cal League. We'll see what he does in the EL.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Giants turned a tight pitching duel into a slugfest in extra-innings and came out winners to assure a win of their first series of the eastern road trip. Key Lines:

Justin Christian- 0 for 6. BA= .185. This is a deceiving line as Christian hit the ball hard several times.

Melky Cabrera- 2 for 5, HR(9). BA= .354. The Melky Hit Parade continued unabated. The HR was a godsend as it looked like Mike Minor might be cruising to a 1-0 shutout until Melky's dinger tied it in the 6'th. The ATL fans are getting on Melky pretty good and he's giving it back just as good.

Buster Posey- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .308. Buster now has 3 consecutive 3-hit games. He came out after his 3'rd hit, a questionable move, but I'm guessing he has to catch the noon game tomorrow too.

Gregor Blanco- 1 for 2, HR(5). BA= .255. Another ex-Brave. Blanco atoned for striking out with the bases loaded with a 3 run dinger in the 11'th that essentially clinched the win.

Brandon Belt- 0 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .243. Right now, Belt is having trouble getting the bat off his shoulder. I don't think he took more than 3 swings all night. If you take enough pitches, you are going to draw some walks, but I'm really not sure how much that helps the team despite what the statheads and Beltists say.

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 1, HR(2), BB. BA= .240. Crawford fouled a pitch off his knee and went down like he's been shot. For a minute or two, it looked like the Giants might end up with a pitcher playing SS! He pulled himself up off the mat and when they tried to throw him another cutter inside, he pulled it into the RF bleachers for a 3 run HR in the top of the 11'th inning. How great is that? I was ready to write Crawford off a few games ago, but he's had much better looking AB's in his last couple of games.

Javy Lopez- 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.72. The BB was intentional to PH Pastornicky as the extra runner did not matter in a tie game in the bottom of the 9'th. Lopez threw a lot of pitches to Bourn before striking him out, but I thought he maybe should have pitched the 9'th too with all the LH hitters in the heart of the Braves lineup.

Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.34. Casilla blew away the first two batters in the 9'th, but then gave up a double to Freeman and a HR to McCann. He seemed to be afraid to throw the breaking ball to the LH batters. Not sure if that was Whiteside's call or his. Giants may need to think about a trade for a closer for the stretch run. Broxton? Lytle? Street? Stay tuned!

The Dodgers beat the Phillies 5-3 in extra innings to remain 3 games behind the NL West leading Giants. The D'Backs topped the Reds 7-1 to remain 7 games behind in 3'rd place.

Madison Bumgarner goes tomorrow against Tim Hudson. Huddy is always very tough on the Giants, but I also like Bumgarner facing that Braves lefty leaning lineup too.

Brownie stays hot. Good, but not spectacular game from Kickham. Tim Alderson has pitched better this year, but go roughed up pretty bad in this one. Gotta say it looks like the Sanchez trade ended up favoring the Giants even with all his injuries.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Giants offense mounted a sustained attack aided in no small part by old fashioned hustle. Barry Zito was dealing from the first batter. The Giants cruised to an easy win over the hottest team in the NL and got off to a great start to their 6 game road trip back east. Key Lines:

Gregor Blanco- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(16). BA= .253. Blanco got the game off to a great start by drawing a walk and coming around to score on Buster Posey's first double. He would reach base 2 more times and score once more.

Melky Cabrera- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .353. Melky's hit parade continues. He may have felt he had something to prove to the Braves and the fans in ATL. His double was a single that he stretched, possibly foolishly, into a double when Bourn routined a liner that he fielded in short right-center. Melky was safe by a hair so it all worked out for good.

Buster Posey- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .302. Buster was on fire as he scalded the ball his first 3 AB's, the 3'd one a double to the left-centerfield wall with the bases loaded that drove in 3 runs. Buster is 8 for 15 since the All Star break. Buster may have had some extra motivation playing in his home state in front of friends and relatives.

Angel Pagan- 2 for 5. BA= .287. Pagan started the 6 run rally in the 4'th by beating out a grounder to first when Jurrjens missed the bag on the cover play. You never know when hustling down the line will pay off. It paid off big time in this game!

Hector Sanchez- 1 for 2. BA= .281. Hector hurt his left knee while diving back to the bag on a pickoff play. The leg has been gimpy for awhile now, though, so it might not have been a single injury event. Hopefully he's just banged up and needs a nice 2 week DL stint and nothing more. The Giants really can't afford to let him go day-to-day as that would leave them with no backup catcher, so a DL stint is a virtual certainty. Eli Whiteside will probably be the callup. As much of a gamer as Whitey is, and as much as some have complained about Hector's hitting and D, I don't think you can overstate what Hector has done for this team. His bat is much better than Whiteside's and combined with Buster's ability to play 1B has given the Giants tremendous flexibility that they will almost certainly lose. In addition, I believe the Giants best offensive lineup right now is Buster at 1B and Hector behind the plate. They lose that for awhile now.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .237. Crawford hit the ball with authority. He needed something good to happen for him at the plate. Maybe this can be a new starting point for him.

Barry Zito- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.75. Zito was dealing. You could see if from the way he went after the first batter, Bourn. Zito really has been the guy who has saved the season from disaster with Timmy's struggles. The Braves LH batters, in particular, had no chance against him.

The Dodgers blew another game in the late innings, losing to the Phillies 3-2 to fall 3 games behind the NL West leading Giants. The D'Backs got blanked by Cincy 4-0 to fall 7 games behind.

Ryan Vogelsong faces Mike Minor in tomorrow's contest in Atlanta.

KC DFA'd Jonathan Sanchez today. The Giants have a history of giving their castoffs second chances. Let's see if he ends up coming back on minor league deal.

Travious Relaford is killing it! As near as I can tell, John Polonius was signed as an undrafted FA on July 5. He's originally from Curacao and was drafted in round 30 out of JC ball last year by Cleveland. He played this year for West Virginia and hit .305. From pics I found, looks terrific in a uniform!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

This one was more of a battle than it probably should have been, although Bud Norris can be one tough customer when he's on. Glass half empty: Giants should have buried this inferior team. Glass half full: Giants swept a series they should have swept and head out on the road with a small first place cushion to work with. On a day when Melky was off for the birth of his child and Riot was apparently not available for some unknown reason, I'll take the latter. Key Lines:

Gregor Blanco- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .252. I figure if Blanco gets on base twice or more in a game, he's done his job. His efforts got the Giants 1 of their runs today.

Buster Posey- 3 for 4. BA= .297. Buster drove in single runs with 2 of his 3 hits.

Bullpen-2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. Bochy was like a kid in a candy store with the mixing and matching today. Worked to perfection except for a HBP by Affeldt.

The Dodgers got clobbered by those Pesky, Pesky Padres to fall 1.5 games off the Giants pace while the Cubbies completed a sweep of the D'Backs who fell 6.5 games behind. Something funny going on in LA. Kemp DNP. Dodgers website said it was was just to keep him fresh, but how fresh does dude need to be after missing the better part of a couple of months? Billz goes down with elbow pain. They might end up having to empty out their farm to get a pitcher.

Giants have a day off then start a 6 game road trip to Hotlanta and Philly. Barry Zito starts things off on Tuesday evening against the Braves who are as hot as this summer's weather in Georgia.

Tim Lincecum was pitching for his place in the rotation and came through with what might have been his best performance of the season pitching 8 dominant shutout innings. The lead was lost in a bizarre turn of events in the top of the 9'th inning so he ended up with a no decision. Hector Sanchez eventually picked himself up from his 9'th inning defensive miscue with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 12'th. Key Lines:

Gregor Blanco- 1 for 4, 2 BB. BA= .252. Blanco reached base 3 times in 6 PA's but did not figure into the scoring.

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 5, BB. BA= .308. Both of Sandoval's hits were IF hits. He is in noticeably better shape than when he came off the DL and was getting down the first base line in 4.5 secs. He scored the game winner after beating out a chopper to the SS hole.

Hector Sanchez- 4 for 6, 2B. BA= .278. Sanchez is taking a lot of heat for the miscue in the 9'th. In fairness to him, it was a very tough play. Tough pitch to block and he had to go a long way to get it. The throw was more a mistake of aggressiveness than a bad play. Gotta love the long term potential of the bat, well, the whole package, but especially the bat.

Tim Lincecum- 8 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K's. ERA= 5.93. I still think Timmy looks too thin, but he had plenty of stamina in this one. He got stronger in this one as the game went on and he pitched 8 full innings.

Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.97. Casilla's stuff might have been too good in this one. The tying run scored on a K on a nasty pitch in the dirt that Sanchez partially blocked but it bounced far enough for him to feel like he had to hurry his throw to first. It was an awkward angle with the runner partially blocking the path of the ball to 1B and it pulled Belt off the bag into foul territory. Maxwell, who started the play at 2B saw that Sanchez was too far away from the plate to get back and cover it and never stopped running beating Belt's throw and the game was tied.

The Dodgers lost to the Pesky Padres 7-6 so the Giants move back into first place in the NL West by 0.5 games over da Bums. The D'Backs lost to the Cubs again so they fall to 5.5 games off the Giants pace.

Matt Cain takes the mound tomorrow against Bud Norris in an afternoon game. We all know what he did in his last start against the "Stros.

It's not easy to get multiple hits in 7 inning games, but Brownie did it twice. He now has multiple hits in 7 straight and 8 of 10. He's hitting .435 with a SLG% of .696. Some have noted that he's not drawing walks. Not sure why he would want to draw walks when he's hitting .435. Brown's history is he draws more walks when he's not hitting, but when he's hitting, well, it's like Yogi Berra once said, "I hit the bad pitches so good, I didn't see why I should wait for a good one!" LOL!

Fitzgerald has allowed just 2 runs in his last 20 innings over 3 starts with 18 K's and 6 BB's.

Hollick put up video game numbers in JC ball. So far, he's doing it again in his pro debut. Is Relaford translating raw talent into skills? Gotta start wondering if Allen is ever going to get past the lower minors.

John Sickels is starting a review of his pre-season top 20's for each team. First up was the Tampa Bay Rays. For those of you who might be hung up on organizational rankings, the Rays were BA's #11 ranked system at the beginning of the season. Go read through Sickels' mid-season review and tell me whether you think the Rays system is significantly better than the Giants right now.

About Me

I grew up in Northern California near the Napa Valley. I got interested in baseball and the Giants by listening to Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons broadcast Giants games on KSFO. My early heros were Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal and a guy you don't always think of, Jim Ray Hart. When I got older and was in school and early career, I didn't have time to follow as closely, but I tried to look up their boxscores each day and catch an occasional game on TV. One habit I got into at an early age was looking up the stats of their minor league players in The Sporting News. That became more difficult as TSN moved away from comprehensive baseball coverage. Now, of course, technology and affluence has changed all that. The internet is teaming with farm system/minor league information as well as college and high school baseball. Satellite TV enables me to get most of the Giants games on TV. I'm married with 2 wonderful daughters, who like to watch games with me.